The Most Beautiful Girl in School Has Become a Mother - Chapter 22: From Tomorrow, I’ll Still Be “Dad”

After that, I felt uneasy about letting a girl walk alone on a dark road, so I decided to take Miori to the bus stop.

This area is a quiet residential neighborhood, and the security is good, so I think it should be fine, but just in case. If anything were to happen to my classmate… or rather, the one who played the role of “mom,” it would be unbearable.

“You didn’t have to go out of your way to send it. Won’t Shuri-chan get lonely?”

On the way to the bus stop, Miori said apologetically.

When I said I would take her home, she repeatedly insisted that it wasn’t necessary and was being considerate.

“No, like when I go out to buy something at the convenience store, I leave her alone and she’s used to it.”

That’s right. Basically, once I get home, I’m the only one who can take care of Shuri. If we run out of something essential like tissues or toilet paper, I often have to rush to the convenience store to buy it.

It would be great if I could always prepare everything perfectly, but even when I make a list, I often forget to buy things. In fact, I’m so focused on thinking about dinner that I end up forgetting things. I have a rather absent-minded personality, so I can’t help but think that I might not be cut out to be a househusband.

However, taking my five-year-old sister outside at night often makes me more anxious instead. In such cases, I usually leave her at home and make a quick run to the convenience store.

Fortunately, there is a convenience store just a few minutes’ walk away, so if I hurry, I can make the round trip in five minutes. For that amount of time, Shuri is the kind of child who can wait without complaining.

The door is locked from the outside, and even if the intercom rings, I’ve thoroughly taught her not to answer. In that regard, she is exceptionally competent for a five-year-old, so in a way, I was also relieved.

“Besides… it was Shuri who said, ‘Take Mom home.'”

“Yeah, it was.”

We both get embarrassed and awkwardly avert our gazes.

That’s right. It was also my sister who told me to take her home like this.

I was saying that I would take her to the bus stop, and there was a back-and-forth where Miori was being considerate of Shuri and refusing. That’s when my little sister said, “Take Mom with you.” For a five-year-old, she really had some good sense. Of course, I was truly grateful.

As we walked in silence for a while, the girl walking next to me suddenly chuckled to herself, remembering something.

“…? What’s wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m sorry. I just thought it was kind of strange.”

“Strange? What is?”

“Because, we hardly ever talked before, right? And yet, just today, we’ve gotten to know so many things about each other… and I feel like we’ve really closed the distance between us.”

I found myself grunting “Indeed” at her words.

Not only had we hardly spoken, but just four days ago, I had freaked her out with a comment saying, “Be my mom.” Yet, in just a few days, the situation has turned around completely, and now Miori is coming to my house, and she’s even coming again tomorrow. It was nothing short of bizarre.

In the past few days, I feel like we’ve seen various sides of each other. We’ve caught glimpses of each other’s family situations, and I’ve shown her my home life, which I’ve never shown to anyone before.

Moreover, I saw many sides of her that I wouldn’t have seen even if we were just ordinary friends. These are aspects that we might never have seen in each other if it weren’t for Shuri.

“I feel like I got to see a lot of unexpected sides of Isaki-kun, and it feels like I gained something.”

“What the heck is that? That’s my line. I got to see a lot of Miori that I couldn’t see at school, after all.”

“Hmm? You’ve been watching me for that long?”

“N-no, that’s not it! I-I didn’t mean it that way!”

Seeing me flustered, Miori’s face broke into a smile.

Yes, if we’re talking about something strange, it’s this. Even without Shuri in between, I no longer call her “Imiya-san,” and she no longer calls me “Sanada-kun.” And I no longer feel any discomfort about it. We naturally call each other by our names. The distance between us has shrunk considerably.

And as I watched her interacting with Shuri, I became painfully aware of how irresistibly drawn I was to her smile.

Usually, the smiles she shows at school are very cute and wonderful. But the smile she shows to Shuri is so gentle, and it is completely different from the one she shows at school. When I see her smile, my heart becomes unbearably tight, and I can’t sit still or stand still.

“W-well, speaking of strange, it was also strange that you said you’d come again tomorrow.”

I suddenly felt embarrassed for some reason and changed the subject a bit.

I might have been afraid of her realizing what kind of feelings I had for her.

“When you get asked ‘When are you coming next?’ with a face like that, you can’t help but say tomorrow.”

She must be remembering Shuri’s face from earlier. She’s giggling softly.

Indeed, Shuri’s face just now had a gaze like that of a stray dog. Escaping from that is an almost impossible task, but it seems that Miori also fell for it completely.

“Well, but two days in a row? I thought it might be tough for Miori too. It helps us out, but I don’t want you to overdo it.”

“I’m not forcing myself or anything. Besides, I had a great time today too.”

“I see… well if that’s the case, it’s fine.”

Then, once again, a brief silence descends.

That silence was neither strange nor uncomfortable. Only the sound of our footsteps echoed on the night road, and even those footsteps felt somehow warm. It made me feel that way.

Soon after that, we arrived at the bus stop. Just across the traffic light, the bus that Miori was supposed to take was stopped. It seemed we made it just in time.

“Is that the bus?”

“Yeah, the timing was perfect.”

When Miori took out her commuter pass holder from her bag, she smiled at me.

In the meantime, the traffic light turned green, and the bus stopped at the bus stop. The bus doors opened, and an announcement from the driver about the destination flowed through the speakers.

“Thanks for today. I look forward to tomorrow as well.”

“Likewise. Thank you for sending me.”

Miori said just that and placed her foot on the bus’s boarding steps.

“Oh, Isaki-kun.”

As if she remembered something, she turned back to look at me.

“From tomorrow onwards, please take care of me, Dad.”

She said it playfully and looked somewhat happy, but also a bit embarrassed.

Before I could say anything, she hurriedly got on the bus. Then, from inside the bus, she looked over at me, waved shyly, and smiled.

Just as I desperately held back a grin and waved my hand, the bus carrying Miori started to move.

“From tomorrow onwards… that’s why it’s bad for my heart. Idiot.”

After the bus disappeared from sight, it goes without saying that I couldn’t help but let my cheeks relax significantly.